Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investing firm of billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, has invested an undisclosed amount in the Chennai-based housing microfinance firm Swarna Pragati.
Founded by A Ramesh Kumar, ex-executive of SBI, Swarna Pragati focuses on giving loans to bottom of the pyramid.
Omidyar invests in areas such as consumer internet and mobile, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, governance and citizen engagement, and property rights.
In India, it has invested in ventures such as employability assessment firm Aspiring Minds, train travel tech startup RailYatri.in and online classifieds portal Quikr. A spokesperson from Omidyar confirmed the investment.
Financial inclusion
“Swarna Pragati is at the intersection of property rights and financial inclusion. We are encouraged by the organisation’s purpose and the entrepreneur’s passion; in addition, we are hopeful that this business model will be replicated in the sector,” Anuradha Ramachandran, Director, Investments, at Omidyar Network said in an email response to The Hindu .
“By providing housing loans to rural low income households, Swarna Pragati is aiding the creation of a credit history and a long-term asset, and also providing recognition to women’s rights to the property,” she added.
